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Published on February 1, 2008

New Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej completed his Cabinet line-up yesterday by yielding to pressure from the party's financiers to make appointments with which he is unhappy, a source said.

Meanwhile, the People Power Party today will meet with other coalition partners to discuss joint policies for their administration.

The final Cabinet line-up would see Samak double as the defence minister. There will be no deputy minister as a team of retired generals and defence experts would serve as Samak's advisers at the Defence Ministry, according to the source.

After much power wrestling within Samak's PPP, Santi Promphat will become the transport minister. He is a trusted aide to former transport minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, a former Thai Rak Thai executive who is banned from politics. Pongsak is also known as a party financier.

Samak earlier was unhappy with candidates for the transport, education and energy portfolios.

Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law of ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, will serve as the education minister, in addition to deputy premier, according to the source. Anusorn Wongwan, the original candidate for the education portfolio, would serve as culture minister.

Samak's close aide Teerapol Noprumpa said yesterday that it would take a few days to check the qualifications of the proposed ministers. He expected the Cabinet list to be submitted for Royal endorsement next week.

Another People Power source said the party leaders formed the present Cabinet under an agreement to have a reshuffle in the next four to six months.

A Samak 2 Cabinet would see more outsiders and the party's financiers as ministers if the Constitution Court issues a ruling on laws to prevent conflict of interest in a way that does not block the chance of financiers from assuming ministerial posts.

Former PM's office minister Theerapat Serirangsan had initiated a law against conflict of interest.

The former 111 executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party who were banned from politics for five years may also get to be secretaries or advisor to ministers, despite public opposition. If that is the case, it is likely that Thaksin will be an advisor to the government.

In a related development, People Power deputy secretary-general Noppadon Pattama will table a 46-page national policy draft at a morning meeting with the newly-formed government at Sukhothai Hotel today, a party source said yesterday.

Noppadon yesterday chaired a meeting of the working team on national policies.

Some of the content in the original draft was altered and re-prioritised at the meeting, the source said.

It now consists of seven strategies and 17 policies that seek to ensure that all agencies will work together harmoniously.

Emergency policies in the draft could be promptly employed as they were derived from poll results on what the public considered the most pressing issues facing the country.

The government should immediately tackle issues such as national reconciliation, economic problems such as income distribution to provincial folk, drug abuse and unrest in the South.

Earlier, Noppadon announced the party had drawn up a national policy draft to be announced before Parliament. The party will maintain the type of policies that had taken the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party to its height as a populist group.

These policies include the Village Fund, education loans, the two- and three-digit lotteries, CEO governors, debt moratorium, village banks, the "million cattle" project and the war on drugs.

 Piyanart Srivalo,

 Samatcha Hunsara

 The Nation